NJ man lost $12,000 for engagement ring while riding motorcycle

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A New Jersey commercial fisherman who saved nearly $12,000 in cash for an engagement ring lost it when it fluttered from his backpack while he was riding a motorcycle.

Matthew Camp, 32, said the sad tale could have a happy ending.

A highway cleanup crew on the Garden State Parkway has found $4,000 of the cash and now another person has stepped forward to say he found another $5,300 and wants to return it on Wednesday night.

Camp said he lost the money on September 9 after cashing a $12,000 check earned during a good scallop run on his boat, the F.V. Nancy Elizabeth out of Cape May, New Jersey.

Camp stuffed the money into a backpack, which had a broken zipper, and planned to ask longtime girlfriend Tabitha Bohn to marry him. He rode his motorcycle to the dock and, while changing into work clothes, discovered the cash was missing, Bohn said.

"It was heartbreaking," said Bohn, who with Camp has two children and is raising two others from previous relationships. "He was finally going to break down and buy me a ring."

Camp raced back up the parkway, where the crew that found $4,000 offered a description of a new model silver truck whose occupant also picked up some cash.

The truck occupant, who wants to remain anonymous, recently contacted Camp after reading about the incident in the local newspaper. He agreed to turn over his found treasure to Camp later on Wednesday.

As for fishing? Camp was supposed to go out on Wednesday, but the boat's captain delayed the trip to give Camp time to get the cash back.